WTF ‘He would even buy games for us!’ – Boksic pays tribute to disgraced ex-Marseille chief Tapie Goal Last updated 1 year ago 01:01 6/6/18 FacebookTwitterRedditcopy Comments(0) Getty WTF Olympique Marseille Ligue 1 The president saw his club embroiled in a serious match-fixing scandal, but the forward has fond memories of his time at Stade Velodrome Alen Boksic has paid bizarre tribute to ex-Marseille president Bernard Tapie, crediting him for buying games on behalf of the Ligue 1 club and making their players rich. Boksic was just 22 when he joined the southern French club in 1992, and in his first season lifted the European Cup before going on to star for the likes of Lazio and Juventus. Marseille’s triumph, however, was later tainted by charges of match-fixing that saw the club relegated to the second tier and stripped of their 1992-93 Ligue 1 title, while Tapie was sent to jail. Article continues below Editors’ Picks Goalkeeper crisis! Walker to the rescue but City sweating on Ederson injury ahead of Liverpool clash Out of his depth! Emery on borrowed time after another abysmal Arsenal display Diving, tactical fouls & the emerging war of words between Guardiola & Klopp Sorry, Cristiano! Pjanic is Juventus’ most important player right now But according to the Croatia legend, a footballer could not ask for a better employer than the disgraced former l’OM chief. “Recently I went to Marseille for the 25th anniversary of winning the European Cup. We were a great team and had the best president!” he told Croatian TV show “Vecernji pressing.””He bought a game for us and then we even got a bonus for that victory! And in the end he got punished (in jail, suspended from football) and us players profited!”As I arrived to Marseille, I was young and ready, and I played with Rudi Voller, who was older and didn’t have to prove himself any more, so he was not selfish and allowed me to score as much as I can. That helped me a lot.”Boksic never represented Croatia at a World Cup, missing the chance to shine in 1998 through a knee injury he described as “torture”. He is now looking forward to seeing the likes of Ivan Rakitic star in Russia, although he is concerned that Croatia’s indiscipline could ruin their chances. “Rakitic has surprised me a lot, even training him in national team, I never believed he could reach the level he has reached,” he added. “Croatia have great players but they need to be more disciplined. They don’t have a leader to push them when things are not working as they should.”Boksic added that Croatia could use a player like Sergio Ramos, who has been known to straddle the line between legal and illegal maneuvers. “Take the Champions League final for example,” Boksic said. “It was decided by [Mohamed] Salah’s injury. Sergio Ramos knew what he had to do and he never even got a yellow card!”His move in the final was just as valuable as Bale’s scissor-kick goal. And without those kinds of players you can not build a champion team!”read more